jack shephard

(S05E07) "I remember dying." - Locke

I was really excited for this episode. However, and it wasn't bad, but it turns out that the whole mystery surrounding John's alter ego Jeremy Bentham wasn't much of a mystery after all. The entire hour played out as a laundry list of confirmations - things that we either kind-of-sort-of knew based on past episodes or things that most avid fans of Lost assumed to be true anyway. If anything, it was a nice pat of the back because it's always a good feeling to think every now and then, "Hey, I do get this show!"

(S05E06) "We're not going to Guam, are we?" - Lapidus

Whether you've been prepared for it or not, Lost is becoming a very different show. I'm not bringing that up as a negative. I'm not bringing it up as a positive either. This is just the natural progression of what has become the most densely written sci-fi drama ever. Eventually, we were going to reach a point that just seemed utterly ridiculous even by Lost's standards.

Let me put it this way - for as far-fetched a show as Lost is (that isn't a bad thing), I've never really felt like I had to suspend my disbelief to buy into it. With this episode, I did.

(S05E05) "Um... he's Korean. I'm from Encino." - Miles

The beautiful thing about Lost is that there's never two bad episodes in a row. That's not to say that "The Little Prince" wasn't good, but it certainly wasn't what we've come to expect. It was just too slow. Not the case this week - "This Place is Death" roared back and didn't let up once during its 60 minutes of perfection.

After last week's revelation that Jin was indeed still alive (Was anyone actually surprised by this?), the attention immediately shifted from him to the people who rescued him - Danielle Rousseau's research team. Fans (myself included) were furious when Danielle was killed so nonchalantly last season, mainly because we still had so many questions about her backstory and history on the island. Wish granted.

Last week's riveting Lost premiere brought the Jack-Locke conflict to an entirely new level. This time, all of the survivors (including some of the Others) were forced to choose sides. It wasn't an easy decision, and there were some surprising choices. Each side has its benefits and its drawbacks. Let's take a closer look at these new teams!

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse were unavailable for the podcast this week due to scheduling, but ABC has posted an old interview with Matthew Fox in its place. Since the Jack-centric "Stranger in a Strange Land" episode aired last week, the clip concerned the actor's tattoos. The podcast was considerably shorter than normal, but here are the highlights:

• Matthew Fox uses tattoos to represent memories or meaningful events in his life, so the writers took a similar approach to dealing with Jack's tattoos.
• At the time of the interview, Fox anticipated that the tattoo back story would be set after Jack had divorced Sarah.
• The actor mentioned that, for him, getting a new tattoo is an extensive process.
• Next week's regular podcast will feature mini-interviews with Jorge Garcia and Daniel Dae Kim.

"Stranger in a Strange Land," last week's newest Jack-centric episode, made me seriously question the value of Lost's hero. The episode was not terrible, but was easily the least entertaining of Jack's flashbacks. I am beginning to think that there may be nothing left of interest in Jack's past. That leaves the present and future. Currently Jack is a prisoner of the Others, and through him some facts about the Others have been revealed. This may come to end, however, if Jack gets rescued.

How many more Jack episodes are necessary? What does his character contribute to the mythology and development of the story? Could there be a Lost without Jack Shephard?